Protect production continuity
The network, identity services, plant applications and provider links that production depends on need known owners, dependencies and line-down escalation paths.
Manufacturing & Industrial
Manufacturing & Industrial
Manufacturing depends on reliable connectivity between business and production systems without compromising safety or operational control. ALCO designs segmented, resilient environments and aligns escalation with production impact.
The reality
What makes this sector different
- Production interruptions with immediate operational and financial impact
- IT and operational technology that must interoperate without expanding risk
- Aging plant-floor equipment on networks never designed to be exposed
- Support that has to understand production, not just tickets
How we help
What we do about it
Plant-floor networks designed for uptime and safe segmentation
Segmentation designed to limit lateral movement between IT and operational technology
Compensating controls for legacy equipment that cannot be replaced immediately
Priority escalation aligned with production impact
Operational priorities
What has to work every day
Industrial IT has to support production without treating control systems like ordinary office devices. Safety, uptime, vendor support and approved maintenance windows shape every technical decision.
Keep IT and OT boundaries intentional
Business systems, vendor connections and control environments should communicate only through approved paths based on operational need.
Make changes maintenance-safe
Discovery, patching and network changes must respect safety processes, production schedules, validated configurations and equipment-vendor constraints.
Common risk patterns
Where avoidable risk builds
Plant environments often contain long-lived assets and vendor dependencies, so risk reduction depends on containment and coordination as much as replacement.
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Office and control networks are flat
A compromised email account or workstation can become a production event when business devices have unrestricted paths into operational systems.
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Legacy assets cannot be patched normally
Unsupported operating systems and fixed-function equipment may require isolation, strict communication rules and compensating controls instead of an automatic update.
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Remote vendor access stays enabled
Shared credentials, direct inbound rules and unattended remote tools reduce visibility into who entered the environment and what changed.
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Recovery material is incomplete
Server backups alone may omit network configurations, application dependencies, licenses, HMI projects or vendor-controlled files needed to restore a process.
Managed scope
What ALCO manages with your team
ALCO can manage the supporting IT and network boundary in coordination with plant leadership, controls engineers, safety teams and equipment vendors.
Asset and dependency mapping
A maintained view of supported devices, network zones, applications, communication paths, owners and vendor dependencies, using approved discovery methods.
Network segmentation
Firewalls, VLANs and controlled conduits between business, plant, vendor and guest zones, with rules documented by operational purpose.
Secure remote support
Named access, multi-factor authentication where supported, approved jump paths, time or request limits and logs for in-scope vendor connections.
Supporting IT operations
Identity, supported endpoints and servers, plant-office connectivity, endpoint safeguards, change records and risk-based patch coordination.
Recovery coordination
Coverage and restore planning for agreed servers, configurations and application dependencies, with responsibilities shared explicitly among ALCO and specialist vendors.
Production-aware escalation
Contact paths, severity definitions, maintenance approvals and technical handoffs designed around operational impact rather than ticket count alone.
Starting the engagement
A practical first 30 days
The first month prioritizes controlled observation and jointly approved containment. It does not begin with intrusive scanning or broad changes on a live control network.
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Days 1–5
Set operational guardrails
Meet production, safety, engineering and IT owners; record line-critical processes, approved maintenance windows, vendor restrictions and change-authority boundaries.
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Days 6–10
Build an approved environment map
Use existing records and non-disruptive or explicitly approved methods to map zones, key assets, uplinks, remote paths and supporting services.
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Days 11–20
Contain high-risk pathways
Prioritize exposed vendor access, stale accounts, missing business-to-plant boundaries and unsupported assets, then schedule changes with rollback and production approval.
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Days 21–30
Agree the resilience roadmap
Document dependencies and recovery responsibilities, rank work by safety and production impact, and align projects to shutdowns, refresh cycles and vendor availability.
How we work
A clear process from assessment through operation
Assess
We begin by assessing your environment, risks, constraints and priorities. You receive a clear view of the current state and the work that should come first.
Implement
We implement the agreed controls, tools and configurations, maintaining documentation throughout the work.
Operate
We operate in-scope services according to the monitoring, maintenance, coverage and response commitments defined in your agreement.
Report
You receive plain-language reporting and evidence prepared for leadership, board or auditor review.
Frequently engaged together
All services
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